Does anyone shoot an "unfired" gun??

Col Defender

Col Defender

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Forgive me if this has already been extensively dealt with...please.

I rarely buy an "unfired" gun because I almost surely will take it home and shoot it. Probably the same day! That's what I did with a 12-3 last year. I just can't help myself. And why pay for "unfired" if I know I'll shoot it as soon as I get home. Wonder what that first shot out of the 12-3 cost me?

Anyway, how do you guys feel about all this? (I'm looking at an unfired S&W revolver right now but hesitate to buy it for just this reason.)
 
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I have bought a number of unfired guns and hope to buy more in future. All but two or three I have shot.

Over the last 50 plus years of shooting, I have bought several used guns that appeared, externally, to be in great shape, only to find they had serious mechanical and/or safety issues. That is one reason I will sometimes pay quite a bit extra for an out-of-production, but unfired, gun that I want.
 
This topic should produce good conversation. Hopefully, it won't get ugly. :)
They've all been factory fired so there's no such thing as "unfired".
I have a couple that I have never shot and have no intention of shooting.........just because.
Almost all of my guns have been shot and I enjoy shooting them with my Family and friends.

It's an individual thing and you have to figure it out for yourself. All answers and opinions are acceptable.
Every gun owner should have the right to do what they want with their firearm.
 
just remember that first shooting session could reduce the value of that gun 15% to 25% or more. once it's gone you can't get it back.
 
Unfired

I shoot them all, I just got a 60-4, NIB 1995 vintage, and cant wait to try it out.
If I had an extreemly valuable, or collectable, I might store it.
 
I bought an unfired 1978 Colt Detective Special in Spring of 2006 and I fired it. I have only fired it 120 times but I may take up shooting it again. I consider the DS to be the best 38 snubby ever although I do like my 642-2.
 
I've bragged about this one before, mostly on Colt forums, but about a year ago a local shop (Philadelphia area) got in a bunch of new-in-the-box Colt Government Models from 1951. I bought one ($1400) and decided either I was never going to fire it or I was going to shoot it once a week for the rest of my life. I cleaned off the cosmoline went with Plan B. No regrets whatsoever.
 
I bought an H&R M12 .22 target rifle. When it came, it was in the original vacuum pack. I hesitated, but then opened it, ran some patches through the bore, oiled the bluing, and shot it. I still do.
 
Same as buying a new gun and shooting it for the first time. I like to look at my revolvers as much as the next fellow, but I can keep them in great condition and still fire them occasionally. As far as cost - aah, you only live once right? Of course, I have no intention of ever selling anything that falls into my possession anyway. Kinda the black hole effect - once I get it, it will never get away.
 
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"Hopefully, it won't get ugly."
VM

Oh right shorty, whadda' you know!

I usually keep a LNIB revolver as a safe queen and have a spare to shoot. I wouldn't buy a cherry old gold boxed K-22 and promptly take it home and fire it. I'd buy a nice one with a cylinder ring and shoot IT!

This being in the '80 to present forum would probably have have a buy-it-and shoot it crowd. Not so much in the older revolver sections.
If you bought a new Mod 17 at MSRP of a THOUSAND dollars you really do need to shoot it. A lot.

GF
 
Col Defender said:
Forgive me if this has already been extensively dealt with...please.

I rarely buy an "unfired" gun because I almost surely will take it home and shoot it. Probably the same day! That's what I did with a 12-3 last year. I just can't help myself. And why pay for "unfired" if I know I'll shoot it as soon as I get home. Wonder what that first shot out of the 12-3 cost me?

Anyway, how do you guys feel about all this? (I'm looking at an unfired S&W revolver right now but hesitate to buy it for just this reason.)
Click to expand...
If the unfired gun is from a group of ten firearms made 100 years ago and eight of them were destroyed when the warehouse burned down, then I would leave that gun unfired.

If it is a standard production firearm that is still made and is available in unlimited quantity, absolutely I would fire it.

Obviously the firearm is question is somewhere in between those two extremes. Only you can make that decision. No two peoples values and circumstances are the same.

Last year I came across a 27 year old 3 1/2" model 27 that had not been fired since leaving the factory. I bought it and have kept it in the same condition. However, I already owned 4 other 3 1/2" model 27s. I did buy a modern 8 shot model 27 that is to remain unfired since leaving the factory just so that I could have some unique bookends for my study.
27-bels.jpg
 
+1 on what Rock185 and VM said...

I made a decision to collect S&Ws many years ago. I began by purchasing a few NIB guns and continued doing so for many years. I quit a serious effort shortly after S&W eliminated the pinned and recessed features in the early 80s.

Not being very sophisticated collector, I decided to collect only guns as an original owner that I knew without a doubt were unfired after leaving the factory. I would retain all documentation and info related to every purchase. There are several gaps in my collection that I'll probably never fill but that's OK. The fun of the "hunt" has always been the attraction.

I'm also a shooter. When I'd want a model to shoot I'd find a duplicate first. Today my shooters include six S&Ws that range from a 2 1/2" Mod. 66-0 to a 6 1/2" 500.

Through good times and bad, I kept my collection together and today I can truly enjoy the benefits of a lot of sacrifice and long term commitment.

I hope this thread doesn't deteriorate to a common war pitting shooters against collectors. I do both, as many others do, and they both have their place.

JMHO
 
first off, i am a cold war weapons collector and rarely if ever shot any of them, mostly due to the cost of ammo, i just acquired a 686 from big45, that i will shoot and obtain my ccw with,
to answer the question, if you have the means to shoot it properly, then go for it,,
 
Depends

Colt SAA pretty much nailed it for me,

If I already had the same type of gun in "shooter" condition, and I found and unfired, 100% mint gun I would enjoy keeping the "unfired twin" just to have one that's unfired, but only if it were something that was long out of production.

I also won't pay a mint for an unfired gun, life is too short to have a $4,000 mint NIB 1970's era Model 29 just laying around, I wouldn't even buy it.

The only way I would do it would be to have a "representative" piece for my collection, say if I found something like a NIB Model 10-5 I would leave it as is, just to have a "factory fresh" vintage Model 10 and to preserve one that won't be made ever, ever again.

If it was something of no historical or vintage, like a 1995 production 686 or something, and I just bought it from someone who kept it for home defense and never fired it, I wouldn't think twice about shooting it.

I guess you could say unless it was "stone mint, NIB" I wouldn't, but if it were just someone's "sock drawer" gun, that happened to be unfired, but had some handling marks, then it's just a "used gun that wasn't fired". To me there's a difference. There are plenty of used police guns out there, that may have been "armory spares" or shotguns that were kept in a cruiser but never fired, but have shelf or handling wear. To me these are not "mint NIB" just guns that happened to never get a round through them.
 
When I purchase a gun it's for one simple reason, I want that gun to shoot it. So yeah, I would shoot an unfired sample and have done this. However, I'll admit to being too cheap to purchase any "collectable" gun, my interest is in "working" guns and I'll let others do the collecting.
 
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